Roland has announced the launch of Fantom EX, the company’s flagship “creative” synthesizer and a keyboard they think will serve as the beating heart of your future studio. Offered in November as a $199 upgrade for current Fantom owners, the Fantom EX offers the whole package right out of the box.

Fantom-X — without the E — was, you may recall, a name Roland used two decades ago for their Fantom line. The Fantom-X dominated the product category from 2004 to around 2008, when it was discontinued in favor of the Fantom-G.

What does an extra letter bring you? Actually, quite a lot. Roland is developing a wide-ranging, holistic strategy for new products, leaning heavily upon the company’s trademark “Analog Circuit Behavior” which is Roland’s proprietary technology behind the sound and behavior that first surfaced in the company’s AIRA product line. The Fantom EX is built with ACB at the center, plus ZEN-Core and acoustic sound engines. The Fantom EX boasts over 7000 onboard sounds in fact, with the possibility to add many more via Roland’s expansion modules. ACB modules for the Jupiter-8, SH-101 and JX-3P are included as well.

The Fantom EX is designed for creating music as well as playing it, and as such includes pro sequencing tools with clip-based workflow, TR-REC step sequencer, piano roll editing and other tools to aid in writing, with dedicated software control modes for using Ableton Live, Logic Pro, MainStage, Cubase, and Studio One.

There are also 16 RGB pads which can be used for triggering sounds, samples and clips, along with the Fantom standbys: a touchscreen, ultra-sensitive controls and easy interoperability with just about everything in your studio.

There are three variations of the Fantom EX shipping now based on number of keys (61, 76 and 88) and their responsiveness. Prices start at $3199, rising to $4199 for the Fantom EX 8.

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